A Napier coffee cart stolen in a brazen nightime theft has been found.
The owners of the Boost Espresso cart said they’re rapt - and are grateful for the support of the community after it was sighted in Onekawa and reported by a member of the public.
Bruce McKenzie got a text about 7.30pm on Thursday with the good news, with the cart then retrieved by police.
It had been taken for fingerprints and on Friday morning it wasn’t clear if any coffee equipment was stolen or damaged.
McKenzie’s partner Susan Ardill said she felt a “boost in our thoughts on the community and the help they provided to get it back to us.
“Napier rallied together and the result has been fantastic.”
McKenzie, the owner of Boost Espresso’s five food and coffee wagons rushed straight to his security system to see what had happened when he awoke to see his cart was gone.
He looked, stunned, as the footage showed a thief breaking off the trailer lock about 9pm on Wednesday. They then hitched up the coffee cart onto a vehicle and drove off.
McKenzie said the cart was usually parked elsewhere but was at a Cumberland Rise Taradale address for about a week because he was between jobs.
Also at the address were four other food and coffee wagons that he takes to the Napier Farmers’ Market, Marine Parade Market and Park Island.
He earlier said there was “probably $15,000 worth of equipment inside - a coffee machine, grinder, press, and other little bits and pieces that add up.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
Paunovic moved to Havelock North with her family from Croatia seven years ago.